Do NOT allow another Benjamin to happen!

Is it too much to ask for more protection for our young children when they in the custody of the police?  Why are there protections and regulations in civilized countries to protect the children from the police and the adults? Why then are adults protected by law from the police but children are not?

The case of Benjamin Lim revealed the kind of deep seated thinking in the minds of the people in authority on how to treat our children. Two points came out disgustingly, one, to interrogate children without the presence of an adult, and two, to handcuff children though in this case Shanmugam said Benjamin was not.

Children are children and many are very naïve, innocent and easily frighten by the presence of authority. They are juveniles, vulnerable in many ways. Their mental make up and psychology are not equipped to face the authority especially the police and in a situation when an alleged crime or offence is involved and they are being accused of it. Human decency would say children need to be protected and the younger they are the more they should be protected.  Any asshole in Parliament or in authority wants to say otherwise? The presence of an adult to protect them, to give them some emotional and psychological support is the least that decent people must agree with.

The second point is handcuffing children. There are exceptions and age and physical considerations and the nature of the crime. In general, it is unbecoming and disgusting to put children in handcuffs for minor infringement of the law. There must be clear laws and regulations regarding the use of handcuffs like the use of the gun. The ministers must not conveniently say the discretion must be with the police. It should be the other way. The police can use their discretion when a crime is very serious, when the accused is physically big, violent and not cooperating. But when the accused is a diminutive child, a little girl or a little boy that can easily be handled by the adults, when they are physically small and not violent, cooperating, the handcuffs must be avoided and not be used foolishly and happily.  When children below certain age are handcuffed, the officers must submit a report to justify the act like the firing of a gun to prevent abuses. There must be clear guidelines to the junior officers on the ground when they can use handcuffs on children. We do not need sadist in the police force that could see nothing wrong with handcuffing children.

After this sad episode, I hope the police would come up with clear rules and regulations on the protocol to bring a child into custody and the use of handcuff.  In bringing Benjamin to the police station, was he arrested? If he is not arrested, why is an adult not permitted to be with him? The use of the handcuffs cannot be a blank cheque and allowed junior officers to ‘ownself checks ownself’, can suka suka put handcuffs on children. There have been many abuses in the past. Put it right once for all.  Why all the crocodile tears after poor children in a divorce when no one has the decency in Parliament to speak out about how the police should treat our children with care as guardians?

If it is too difficult to think, ask the Americans or the Europeans how they do it. No need to form another COI on this and wasting precious resources and time.  No need to send delegations on study trips overseas. This is nothing new. It is about how we treat our young children with decency. It speaks volumes about the mentality of the adults and their upbringing, their values and beliefs and humanity. Some adults look normal but are sick in the head, are psychopaths and did not know themselves.

It is long overdue to change the protocol in the way the police is allowed to handle children in their custody and what can or cannot be handcuffed when children are concerned. Do it right for once, for goodness sake.

Presumed innocent until proven guilty? Never heard of it?

Benjamin Lim’s case –Thou shalt not give false witness

Benjamin Lim’s case –Thou shalt not give false witness

The Benjamin Lim’s case is a hot potato that must be handled with extreme care. Threats, insinuation, allegations, wrong facts etc etc are a no no. Do not try to tell lies or tell half truths and do not try to tell untruths.

The TOC was taken to task by Shanmugam for ‘orchestrated campaign to tarnish police force’. How true was that, only the court can decide. TOC has denied the charge and given its reply in the media. Among the accusations by Shanmugam were that the TOC were reporting falsehoods. These are strong charges that could see TOC in court.

The two ministers made their ministerial statements in Parliament as the facts of the case, the truth. Sure no one would dare to go to Parliament to lie about such a thing. Now Benjamin’s father has come out to dispute some of the facts.  Let me quote a report by Clifford Lee in the Today paper,

‘Although a school counsellor had called his wife that day, the father of Benjamin Lim said the call was not to check on their son’s well being.

Neither was there  a discussion between the counsellor and his wife on whether it would be better for Benjamin to skip a school camp starting the following day so he could be with his family, the father added….

“When the school’s counsellor called Benjamin’s mother at 4.13 pm, he merely informed her that the school had a meeting, and Benjamin will be excluded from the camp. Before the mother can ask any further questions, (he hung up).” Mr Lim said, “(In) the entire conversation…there were no questions asked about (Benjamin) at all … zero questions about (his) well being,”….

Benjamin was found dead at the foot of his block at 4.20 pm.’

Someone, or some people, would be looking very ugly when the truth is confirmed.  For the time being, the MOE spokesperson said that ‘the account given by the Minister in Parliament was based on the facts as we know them at this stage.’ TOC can quote this to defend the allegation of spreading falsehood in addition to their claim that what they reported were mistakes or factual errors as they were told.

With the social media in action, do not tell lies, do not tell half truths or untruths. It can be very embarrassing when caught with the pants down and standing under the spotlight.

Shares in Standard Chartered plunged on Tuesday

Shares in Standard Chartered plunged on Tuesday after the Asia-focused bank revealed a $1.5bn (£1.1bn) loss.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35639284

The bank will take a $4bn charge on writing down the value of its loans, driven by falling commodity prices and deterioration of Indian markets.

Shares in the bank tumbled by 4% to a record low of 418.7p.

CEO said: “It rips at our soul every time we look at these numbers and we don’t ever want to have to stand up and tell this story again.”



And that’s not all.

StanChart faces accusations over ‘dirty debt’.  It bought a $100 million “dirty debt” from a M’sian bank and used it to demand compensation from the Tanzanian government despite knowing that the loan had been part of an embezzlement scheme, according to claims in a legal row in Tanzania. The debt was originally owed to the M’sian bank by a M’sian company, Mechmar.

Update qt 7.00am: HoHoHo woild endorse this spin Sir John Peace, Standard Chartered’s outgoing chairman, said: “While our 2015 financial results were poor, they are set against a backdrop of continuing geo-political and economic headwinds and volatility across many of our markets as well as the effects of deliberate management actions.”

Don’t blame us. World’s in bad shape. We juz reflecting it.

 Cynical Investor



What had happened to Stanchart is nothing new. Remember those American and European banks that were declaring billions of dollars of profits till the eve of the financial crisis? Yes they were reporting how well they were doing and how many billions they were making. Then overnight all declared bankrupt with big holes in their accounts that could not be patched and needed to be saved by the govt?


When  big banks are reporting big big profit, be very careful. With the world economy in a limbo, with many companies losing money, how did the banks made all the big big profits, in the billions? Are the banks so clever, like the casinos?  Wait for more ‘Stancharts’ to reveal themselves and the big holes they are hiding.

PROOF OF CHINA’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE ISLES & REEFS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA by Dan Yong

Part 1: PROOF OF CHINA’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE ISLES & REEFS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
==========================

1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Northern Island

a) China Sea Pilot compiled and printed by the Hydrography Department of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom in 1912 has accounts of the activities of the Chinese people on the Nansha Islands in a number of places.

b) The Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong) carried an article on Dec. 31 of 1973 which quotes the British High Commissioner to Singapore as having said in 1970: "Spratly Island (Nanwei Island in Chinese) was a Chinese dependency, part of Kwangtung Province… and was returned to China after the war. We can not find any indication of its having been acquired by any other country and so can only conclude it is still held by communist China."

2. France

a) Le Monde Colonial Illustre mentioned the Nansha Islands in its September 1933 issue. According to that issue, when a French gunboat named Malicieuse surveyed the Nanwei Island of the Nansha Islands in 1930, they saw three Chinese on the island and when France invaded nine of the Nansha Islands by force in April 1933, they found all the people on the islands were Chinese, with 7 Chinese on the Nanzi Reef, 5 on the Zhongye Island, 4 on the Nanwei Island, thatched houses, water wells and holy statues left by Chinese on the Nanyue Island and a signboard with Chinese characters marking a grain storage on the Taiping Island.

b) Atlas International Larousse published in 1965 in France marks the Xisha, Nansha and Dongsha Islands by their Chinese names and gives clear indication of their ownership as China in brackets.

3) Japan

a) Yearbook of New China published in Japan in 1966 describes the coastline of China as 11 thousand kilometers long from Liaodong Peninsula in the north to the Nansha Islands in the south, or 20 thousand kilometers if including the coastlines of all the islands along its coast;

b) Yearbook of the World published in Japan in 1972 says that Chinese territory includes not only the mainland, but also Hainan Island, Taiwan, Penghu Islands as well as the Dongsha, Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands on the South China Sea.

4. The United States

a) Columbia Lippincott World Toponymic Dictionary published in the United States in 1961 states that the Nansha Islands on the South China Sea are part of Guangdong Province and belong to China.

b) The Worldmark Encyclopaedia of the Nations published in the United States in 1963 says that the islands of the People's Republic extend southward to include those isles and coral reefs on the South China Sea at the north latitude 4°.

c) World Administrative Divisions Encyclopaedia published in 1971 says that the People's Republic has a number of archipelagoes, including Hainan Island near the South China Sea, which is the largest, and a few others on the South China Sea extending to as far as the north latitude 4°, such as the Dongsha, Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands.

5. Viet Nam

a) Vice Foreign Minister Dung Van Khiem of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam received Mr. Li Zhimin, charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Viet Nam and told him that "according to Vietnamese data, the Xisha and Nansha Islands are historically part of Chinese territory." Mr. Le Doc, Acting Director of the Asian Department of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, who was present then, added that "judging from history, these islands were already part of China at the time of the Song Dynasty."

b) Nhan Dan of Viet Nam reported in great detail on September 6, 1958 the Chinese Government's Declaration of September 4, 1958 that the breadth of the territorial sea of the People's Republic of China should be 12 nautical miles and that this provision should apply to all territories of the People's Republic of China, including all islands on the South China Sea. On September 14 the same year, Premier Pham Van Dong of the Vietnamese Government solemnly stated in his note to Premier Zhou Enlai that Viet Nam "recognizes and supports the Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China on China's territorial sea."

c) It is stated in the lesson The People's Republic of China of a standard Vietnamese school textbook on geography published in 1974 that the islands from the Nansha and Xisha Islands to Hainan Island and Taiwan constitute a great wall for the defense of the mainland of China.

B. The maps printed by other countries in the world that mark the islands on the South China Sea as part of Chinese territory include:

1. The Welt-Atlas published by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1954, 1961 and 1970 respectively;

2. World Atlas published by the Soviet Union in 1954 and 1967 respectively;

3. World Atlas published by Romania in 1957;

4. Oxford Australian Atlas and Philips Record Atlas published by Britain in 1957 and Encyclopaedia Britannica World Atlas published by Britain in 1958;

5. World Atlas drawn and printed by the mapping unit of the Headquarters of the General Staff of the People's Army of Viet Nam in 1960;

6. Haack Welt Atlas published by German Democratic in 1968;

7. Daily Telegraph World Atlas published by Britain in 1968;

8. Atlas International Larousse published by France in 1968 and 1969 respectively;

9. World Map Ordinary published by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) of France in 1968;

10. World Atlas published by the Surveying and Mapping Bureau of the Prime Minister's Office of Viet Nam in 1972; and

11. China Atlas published by Neibonsya of Japan in 1973.

C. China's sovereignty over the Nansha Islands is recognized in numerous international conferences.

1. The 1951 San Francisco Conference on Peace Treaty called on Japan to give up the Xisha and Nansha Islands. Andrei Gromyko, Head of the Delegation of the Soviet Union to the Conference, pointed out in his statement that the Xisha and Nansha Islands were an inalienable part of Chinese territory. It is true that the San Francisco Peace Treaty failed to unambiguously ask Japan to restore the Xisha and Nansha Islands to China. But the Xisha, Nansha, Dongsha and Zhongsha Islands that Japan was asked to abandun by the Peace Agreement of San Francisco Conference were all clearly marked as Chinese territory in the fifteenth map A Map of Southeast Asia of the Standard World Atlas published by Japan in 1952, the second year after the peace conference in San Francisco, which was recommended by the then Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuo Okazaki in his own handwriting.

2. The International Civil Aviation Organization held its first conference on Asia-Pacific regional aviation in Manila of the Philippines on 27 October 1955. Sixteen countries or regions were represented at the conference, including South Viet Nam and the Taiwan authorities, apart from Australia, Canada, Chile, Dominica, Japan, the Laos, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand and France. The Chief Representative of the Philippines served as Chairman of the conference and the Chief Representative of France its first Vice Chairman. It was agreed at the conference that the Dongsha, Xisha and Nansha Islands on the South China Sea were located at the communication hub of the Pacific and therefore the meteorological reports of these islands were vital to world civil aviation service. In this context, the conference adopted Resolution No. 24, asking China's Taiwan authorities to improve meteorological observation on the Nansha Islands, four times a day. When this resolution was put for voting, all the representatives, including those of the Philippines and the South Viet Nam, were for it. 

No representative at the conference made any objection to or reservation about it.

 

Research and posted by Dan Yong

 

What is important to the above factual articles is whether they are truths or fabrications. Can anyone prove that they are false by quoting factual evidence to back up his claims? Why are the Americans and the western media refusing to acknowledge these facts and events? Why are the Americans and the west lying and not wanting to tell these truths?

Parliamentarians - Sayang our poor children in a divorce

This issue was hot in Parliament. Every MP worth his salt, including ministers, joined in the chorus about the welfare of little children in broken up families. Poor kids. They are the ones that hurt the most when adults fought and break up. They care deeply about the hurt.  Children are innocent and need to be protected from the harm the adults can inflict on them, intentionally or unintentionally.

I am sure Parliament will debate non stop in the case of poor Benjamin Lim, the poor boy that only had a cold bun for his last meal. I am sure with such kind and caring people in Parliament, many would be in tears talking about Benjamin Lim.

Benjamin’s case came up yesterday and two ministers spoke and with MPs asking questions. Not sure if the question and answer session was as passionate as the case of poor kids in divorce cases. What came through is that the police and the teachers followed orders, worked according to their protocols and everything was normal. And the officers had been dealing with thousands of cases involving young people. Nothing like this happened before. Perhaps this is another 1 in 50 year incident.

Ng Chee Meng was quite happy with the 8 step protocol of MOE. He showed some goodness in him by suggesting that perhaps an adult should accompany a student in police interviews but stopped short of affirming that this would be the necessary change. And he commented that it is police protocol not to allow adult/parents to be present in their interviews.

Shanmugam was also quite happy that his officers did the right thing, followed the right procedures in handling young people. He also revealed the fact that this was not a serious case and Benjamin would likely to get a warning and would not have to go to court.  Did the case appear to be worst than what Shanmugam said when it was first reported? Was it rape, aggravated molestation, or a 14 year boy touching a girl in a lift? What did the 11 year old girl reported and what actually happened that needed 5 police officers to go to the school to bring the boy to the police station? Was there enough evidence from the start that this was not a serious case and need not have the presence of 5 police officers?

Did anyone suggest that 5 police officers interviewed Benjamin as the Shanmugam claimed or the social media was only saying 5 police officers went to school?  Shanmugam gave his side of the story.

Benjamin’s father gave his side of the story in an open letter in TOC. I quote a few paras here, ‘When Benjamin finally left the police station at 2.50pm, he told his mother and sister that he was not given anything to eat, nothing to drink throughout the 3 or more hours of engagement with police investigators in the police station. At his age, my son gets hungry very fast after one meal. Just a cold bun and a drink, and we cannot be sure if he did finish the bun because he was under pressure then. Benjamin must be feeling hungry, thirsty, throughout the few hours he was with the police investigator. I can imagine the anxiety felt by my son throughout the ordeal….

That said, as parents we cannot forget and we cannot forgive the way my son was treated, from the school to the time he was in police custody. I have this to say to the school authorities. We as parents we entrusted our children to you. You have a duty to ensure that our children are appropriately taken care of, reasonably protected and have their interest in your priority.

The fault is the TOC and the social media in general for posting misinformation. TOC is ‘heng’ not to indulge in speculative and spurious allegations that the 11 year old girl would be so traumatized and committed suicide and her parents went mad as a result or worst.

So nothing wrong except maybe some refinement is needed to change the protocol to allow an adult to be present. But must consult psychologists and psychiatrists and the police and teachers, and parents to see if this is necessary?

Is there a need to reinvent the wheel? Police interviewing children is nothing new. The civilized countries in the West have many protocols on this. Can send a study mission to USA, to UK or Europe to study their civilized system and see if they can be used here?

The incongruence of long term result versus short term tenure

‘SINGAPORE: With the global economic outlook uncertain, Singapore will have to ride the ups and downs in the short-term, but its focus must remain on the longer-term, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday (Feb 8).

This means focusing on skills upgrading, as well as giving productivity and training a bigger push.’ CNA

There is now an obsession about looking long term, look far ahead, the further the better, like looking forward towards SG100. This is the most comforting position for anyone in charge, in govt or in business, getting paid today and saying the results will be good in the long term. The pay is real, collected every month, the result is like fairy tales, long long time ago. Who knows what is in the long term, the person in charge would not even be around to see the result or the big flop.

Big corporations hired CEOs and paid them handsomely, in many millions to see results, immediate or in the short term, a couple of years. That is the duration in which a CEO is hired, to perform, to deliver the results. How nice if the CEO can collect his millions and tell the shareholders, look, I am planning for the long term, in 20 or 30 years to bear fruits. I am planting a durian tree. You will see the fruits in 15 years time. The fruits will be good. Trust me. Is there any guarantee that the fruits will be good?

This is the concept of instant gratification and delayed performance. In fact the CEO need not bother about the results in the long run. He would not be there but happily collecting his fortune in the present. There is a mismatch. A CEO is expected to perform immediately. He is hired to deliver now or be fired.

Our democratic system of govt is renewable every 5 years. An elected govt is elected for a 5 year mandate. They need to deliver in the 5 years in office. The system expects a govt to perform in the short term, 5 years. There is no grace or privilege to wait for the long term. This is one of the major flaws of a democratically elected govt. They can be changed after every election.  So, how does it appeal to the people that the govt is working only for the long term and not so much as for the present?

It is like the money in the CPF.  It is for the long term, not sure how long that is, perhaps up to 100 years. In the mean time, no money to pay for food and medical and can die tomorrow is not a concern. In the long term it is good. Now you die your business.

How to reconcile this long term and short term mismatch? Do the people elect a govt for a 5 year term to work for the long term good? Who is to know the consequences in the long term of a bloated population in a small piece of rock? Who is to know the adverse impact of so many foreigners who are given citizenship now? Who would know the impact of our education system in the long term with all the policy changes today? Who would know if Singapore is still an independent country like it is today or be taken over by foreigners in the long term? Who would know if the new citizens today would drive out the pioneering Singaporeans one day?

Long term got guarantee or not?

Japan in control of the biggest naval fleet in the Pacific Ocean

WW2, Japan commanded the biggest naval fleet in the Pacific Ocean and promptly sailed to Hawaii to knock out the American Pacific fleet with great honour and bravado.  The Japanese were so proud of that sneaky victory over the Americans. The Americans were no match when caught in their pyjamas and paid a very heavy price for it. But it was all water under the bridge.  The Americans respected the Japanese code of honour and the sneaked attacked in Hawaii was soon forgotten.

The Americans have embraced the Japanese as honourable warriors of the same kind, and kissing each other everyday. The internment of anything looking like a Japanese in the WW2 days too were forgotten. The bombing of Japanese cities, including Tokyo and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki too were forgotten. The Americans and the Japanese have squared their positions and all is well.

Japan today is in command of the most powerful naval force in the Pacific Ocean. Admiral Harry Harris is the Commander of the US Pacific Command with authority over the 3rd and 7^th Fleet and all the American land and air forces in the Indian and the Pacific Ocean, with many nuclear bombs at his command and disposal and with fire and destructive power thousands of time that of the two bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And the Japanese are also in possession of a so called Self Defence Force that is the most powerful in East Asia after China. Combing the Self Defence Force and the US Pacific Command, the Japanese are now thousands of time more powerful than their heydays in WW2. And Harry Harris is adding the Indian Navy into his charge soon to control the Indian Ocean as well.

This combined force is formidable enough to attack any nation in Asia, including China and Russia and come up triumphant. It can overrun the whole of Asia and Southeast Asia more swiftly and effectively than the Japanese Imperial Army of WW2. And this naval force is for peace, really, no bluff.

While Japan failed in WW2 to be the Number One military power, it is now the de facto Number One military power with the appointment of Japanese Harry Harris as the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet. Japan is now in a position to do many Hawaiis at one go, including launching an all out war with China and Russia. The Japanese are now ruling all the countries in the Indo Pacific region.

Harry Harris is even more powerful than General MacCarthur or any American Commander ever lived.

Heng ah, I was not born in Singapore – FT

Ng Kok Lim wrote an article on this in TRE and I quote his first paragraph, ‘During the last election, Minister Lim Swee Say said heng ah, he was born in Singapore and many Singaporeans agreed with him. But the truth is that you don’t have to be born in Singapore to be heng in Singapore.’

 

I fully agree with what Kok Lim said. He went on to quote those who were not born in Singapore and very heng here, like Boon Wan, Amy Khor, Piyush Gupta, Olivia Lum and many others including table tennis players, swimmers and half past six footballers. And there are more than 2m heng foreigners here helping to grow our economy by 2%, if not our economy will go into recession.

 

And all the foreign born Singaporeans and FTs must be singing in chorus, heng ah, we were not born in Singapore, no need to pay for the expensive and damn stressful education system only to end up with no marketable skills and good enough to be security guards, taxi drivers and crane drivers. And if still cannot get such jobs, to go for further training at public expenses of course. This one really heng, the govt is using public money to subsidise their trainings so that they can be useful in 3^rd world countries, to take the place of the 3^rd world FTs who are here, in their 3^rd world countries getting paid 3rd world salaries with 3^rd world currencies. See how heng are Singaporeans born here. And their 3^rd world counter parts are here to replace them, get their jobs, their women, and get paid high salaries in Singapore dollars.

 

And the FTs are also saying heng ah, no need to waste 2 and a half year charging up Pengkang Hill, not sure if the hill is heng enough to remain there or mowed down to build HDB flats, no need to serve NS, no reservist training, just doing anything and tell the daft Sinkies, I also do NS and join the elite of this daft city.

 

Now, who is more heng, the Singaporeans born here or the foreigners who are going home after their stint in paradise to be rich land owners and living in big landed properties? And they need not worry about Benjamin or their sons doing NS to defend and protect the million dollar properties here that they cannot afford to smell.

 

Are Singaporeans heng or sway? You tell me lah. Sure some of you will be very heng but many would be very sway, like Benjamin and his family and those ended up as punching bags for the very heng foreigners here or losing their well paying jobs to the very heng foreigners.

 

Parrots, please, I am not asking you. Stop parroting. Just repeat after me, ‘Heng ah’.

2 rogues running for President

Two rogues are the front runners in the race for the Presidency of the USA. One is a rogue by virtue of the blood of the Arabs in her hands when she was Secretary of State. And she was known to enjoy every bit of it, like a joke, caught on video laughing herself silly at the mention of the collateral of the invasion of Iraq.  Then there is the indestructible Donald Trump who is seen as another rogue by the Republican leadership but not to the American people. Yes, the Americans are saying they want to vote for a ‘rogue’ President to lead the country.

This is what democracy is all about. It is from the people, of the people and for the people. The people decide who among themselves should be the President of the USA, and who is best able to look after their interests. This decision is not to be decided by a small elite in Washington to protect their own backsides and interests and to go around calling those that are against them ‘rogues’.

The Republican leaders have been ganging up against Trump. They even staged campaigns against him to prevent him from becoming their candidate for the Presidency. What is Donald Trump’s crime? One, Trump is not one of them. Trump is a self made man, a self made billionaire that needs not feed on the system to get rich. Trump does not need to protect the system of greed and corruption. Trump is against everything his Party stood for.

Trump is a new man with new ideas and will dump the Party and all the cronies that have enshrined themselves in the system as if they own America. Trump will change that, Trump will change America to the good old days of the founding fathers.

According to the NYT, the ‘Republicans have ruefully acknowledged they came to this dire pass in no small part because of their own passivity.’ They should have learnt from Singapore, invent a system to prevent ‘rogues’ to become President. This would solve all their problems if they just label Trump a rogue. Unfortunately it is too late.

But this is the strength and essence of American democracy. The power rests on the people. The people decide who they want to be their President, rogue or no rogue. No small group of elite is going to change that. The people are in charge. They know their rights in a democracy and the country belongs to them, not to the small elite.

It is too late for the Republicans to change anything. Even if they try, the Americans would throw their idea out, including them. It is democracy, not autocracy, not dictatorship, not a dynasty owns by the elite. The Americans are not daft citizens. They think and act in their own interests.

Chinese media needs to extend its international influence

The power of media to influence the thinking of the readers is there for all to see. Just brand a person as a rogue, call countries by name like the Axis of Evil, and automatically the readers would think the person or countries are bad. The invasion of two countries, killing their presidents and destroying their economies, murdering millions of their citizens, called collateral not victims of an invasion, all because of a fabricated lie of WMD went pass as something so innocent, non events.

The perpetrators, if on the wrong side of the Empire, would be charged for crimes against humanity. The International Court of Justice would be invoked, the UN would be making all kinds of resolutions and sanctions. But nothing happens and the murderers and invaders go on their daily lives as if nothing happens. And no one is using the phrase 'might is right'. But the same phrase is being used to parrot what the Americans are accusing China for building their islands like what Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines are doing. And the parrots would just parrot the same phrase because the Americans are using it. They did not even know why they are using it.

What about the flying of B52 nuclear bombers and missile destroyers all the way from American bases to the South China Sea? Freedom of navigation or a statement that 'might is right'. I carry a bigger gun so I can do as I like? Shall I ask the parrots? Pointless, the parrots have only a bird brain the size of a pea and incapable of thinking.

Below is an article about China trying to undo the damage done by western media over two centuries, that God is white and anything white is right, including might. And the coloured people, after two centuries of reading white lies cannot tell the difference anymore. China and Asians would have to tell their own stories from their perspectives and interests. Channel News Asia has been created to do this job but is getting diluted and starting to become a western media and telling news the western way, becoming more like the trash being published by NYT, Washington Post, WSJ, and the agencies like Fox News, Agencies, AFP etc etc. It would be so sad to see Channel News Asia becoming another western clone and thinking and talking like angmoh media and taken over by the angmohs.

Chinese media needs to extend its international influence
By Chua Chin Leng (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2016-02-24 17:43

President Xi Jinping made an important date with the Chinese media industry immediately after the Chinese New Year holidays. Fresh from the Golden Week break, President Xi visited Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily and CCTV in an event widely covered by the Chinese media, a sign that the President is launching another major initiative for the Chinese media.
The Chinese media industry is likely to see a major policy shift with greater central government support to play a bigger role as major international news providers on the world stage crowded by other big media players.

Chinese media are entering the world of news reporting and communication as a late starter. The Western media have been dominating the world news for more than two centuries, telling their stories and influencing the minds and views of their readers.
Western media have many advantages on their side, from being the first movers, being first on the world stage and carving out their sphere of influence, and also the advantage of the English speaking world.

News reporting has been one sided, seeing and reporting world events and news from a Western perspective, particularly in media platforms where English is the main language of communication and a willing and ready audience of English speakers.

Chinese media has a lot of catching up to do in talking to the world, in news reporting and the coverage of world events. They are competing for readership against many very well established Western media that have attained certain level of reputation, familiarity and acceptance over the years.

China Daily, Global Times, Xinhua and CCTV are doing a decent job in presenting news from the Chinese perspective. But they are talking to an audience of converts, people who are interested in China and events in China. World news is still dominated by Western media by virtue of their extensive coverage and an army of journalists and reporters worldwide.

How could China with a limited number of news agencies that are reporting mainly to a domestic audience win the readership of the world, to compete successfully for readership with the established Western media? There is no need to reinvent the wheel in news reporting. Chinese media could learn from what the Western media have been doing for years, investing in news agencies, in journalists and reporters, in commentators and academics, to present a different world view that is favorable to China, to tell the Chinese story.

The Western media is still hostile to China and presenting China and news related to China in a negative way, stereotyping and with a Western biased agenda. There is no short cut towards erasing or changing the worldviews of China presented by Western media and their hordes of journalists and contributors on world events.

China would have to adopt a wide ranging strategy across all forms of media, from news reporting, journals, magazines, TV, movies, pop cultures, sports and new media. There will be short term and long term strategies to consider.

China could tap on the pulling power of celebrities in the media, in the industries, in the movie and pop culture industries, to harness their influence to change and improve the perspective and perception of China and the Chinese Civilization.

Cultivating brand names by acquisition or promoting popular domestic brands in the international arena, promoting China's brand of pop culture and pop idols to promote soft power.

In this regard, China could tap on the established celebrities and brand names in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the overseas Chinese as part of the ascendance of the Chinese Civilization. CCTV has been doing this very well and more effort and resources could be committed towards this direction.

Winning the hearts and minds of the peoples of the world, changing world perception of China and the Chinese Civilization are not an easy task. And this is made even more difficult when the Western media are doing all the damage they can to paint China and the Chinese Civilization in a negative light for over two centuries.

It is an uphill task but over time, with great effort and perseverance, the world would see China and the Chinese Civilization in a different light.

Chinese media have a very important and urgent task to play to change the way the world sees China after what the Western media have done to China and the Chinese Civilization. It is just the beginning of a very long journey and with many obstacles ahead.

Manny Pacquiao paying a price for telling the truth

Ok, I must clarify this bit. Pacquiao said this, ‘It’s common sense. Do you see animals mating with the same sex? Animals are better because they can distinguish male from female.” He added, “If men mate with men and women mate with women they are worse than animals.’ What kind of truth is Pacquiao saying, a natural truth and be punished by his sponsor Nike withdrawing its sponsorship?

Actually it was a biblical truth that Pacquiao was saying that was offensive to those people he offended. The Old Testament:  ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.’

What is the moral of this incident? Don’t anyhow quote the bible? Or the bible is wrong, out of touch with time, outdated, outfashioned?

What do you think? This is my safest statement, I mean by asking, What do you think? The rest of the things I said above can be interpret in many ways by whoever and whatever. Peace.

Madonna is in trouble, Gaga is in trouble, Pacquiao is in trouble, all got to do with religion, not morality or simple decency. A timely warning to Veritas, not to play with religion and religious bigots.

Living with the myth of international exposure

The myth of foreigners with international exposure has become a mandatory requirement for top management positions continues to be flagged everyday by everyone claiming to be an authority in hiring and talent scouting. You need to have international experience to fit the top job. Just look around and ask how many of our top people have international experience. Just look at our past leaders and asked how many have international experience. Ask Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or Steve Jobs what international experience did they have before they were successful? Ask Li Ka Sing what international experience he had before he was successful.

Singapore is not a little village in the jungle and never knew what is happening around the world. Singapore is an open society, a cosmopolitan city. Singaporeans are well travelled, exposed to the world, many of our talents are educated and trained overseas. With free travel, the internet, Singaporeans did not wear blinkers as they go about their lives. The young people are more widely travelled and exposed to the world than anyone in the developed countries. Foreigners from little villages come here for the international experience they need.

What is this beef about having to work in an international organization to be qualified for top management jobs?  Ask the chicken rice and satay seller what international experience is needed when his customers and market are in the housing estates? 

Running the train needs international experience or not? You need international exposure when your business is international. International experience is good to have. You don’t need international experience as a pre requisite to be in top management especially in local companies operating locally with local customers, products and services. If this is mandatory, then all our local companies must be filled by foreigners.

There is such a thing as good to have but not necessary must have. There are things that can be acquired in the process. Maybe this is the reason why our locals are found not good enough for top jobs by our very own locals because of this myth. The unspoken conspiracy is for foreigners to take over the top jobs of local companies. 

Yes, we are one of the top countries in terms of hiring foreigners. Is this something good or is it bad? This is a selling out of the interest of our local talents. It is an accolade that is not an honour and better not to have. Japan would need to replace all their top honchos with foreigners, and so would China, Korea, Taiwan and India.

Just because foreigners said you need foreigners does not mean it is good for you or good for your country and people.  It is meant to be good for the foreigners, dumb twits. Computers and parrots don’t think. But people with a little grey matter must think. Otherwise there is no use for the piece of grey matter in between their ears.

Keep filling the top positions with foreigners. What about sending your Singaporeans for foreign exposures? No need. Then where are you going to get Singaporeans with foreign exposure even if it is really needed? Ask Jack Ma if he got foreign experience. The myth of foreign exposure is like planting a Trojan horse in the brain of a parrot to do damage to his own people without him knowing it.

Parrots, please repeat after me, ‘We need international experience for top jobs.’

South China Sea – A big power contest

The South China Sea dispute is not a dispute between China and some Asean states that the Americans would want the world to believe. It is a contest for domination and control. China is moving in to reoccupy and develop their islands. The Americans are seeing this as an attempt to carve away their area of influence. The Americans are moving into Asia with their Asian pivot strategy to control and dominate Asia and to protect their interests, definitely not of Asean’s. They are trying very hard to conceal this ambitious hegemony motive by stirring up difference in the region and wanting to drag Asean to confront China and allowing them to move into the region as a welcome warlord

The Asean states are not taking the bait. No matter how hard the Philippines and Vietnam tried to push Asean to become a vehicle for American dominance in South China Sea, the other Asean states are staying away, preferring to stay neutral as what Asean stands for. Asean is not going to be recolonised and ruled by any big power and definitely not by the Americans.

The failed attempt by Obama to string a coalition against China in the summit in Sunnylands is telling. But the Americans are not giving up and are continuing to agitate the Asean states to fall in line, that China is militarizing the South China Sea and they need to bring in the Americans to fight for them, to defend them. Yet again, the Americans crying wolf is not getting any attention. The latest, they are going to add another nuclear attack submarine and a new stealth guided missile destroyer to the South China, for peace and stability?

The next move is to exert pressure on the unwilling Asean states to force them to get on board the Empire’s warship. Malaysia is under great pressure. Next will be Thailand and Indonesia. If the Americans could get these three states to fall in, the majority of Asean states will just follow suit.

So far the Americans are seeing their attempt to seed a war in the region failing. With Asean not biting, not stupid anymore, they are falling back on their backups, the willing Japanese and Australians to do the dog’s work, to conduct joint patrols to provoke China.

China is now in a corner and has to hold its ground, to push back the invaders at its door step. China is digging in and moving their military hardware into the South China Sea to make a stand. They will have anti B 52 missiles ready, anti ship missiles ready, anti submarine hunters ready. China has decided that they will have to make a stand or be pushed out of the South China Sea. It is a contest for control and the gun will rule the day. The aggressive Americans have said they would send in more warships and war planes to exert their power to push China out of the region. It is gunboat diplomacy all over like Commander Perry sailing into Japan to force open Japan for the Americans and the British gunboats attacking China once again.

A military conflict is about to flare up. Asean states are best to stay out of this shit or be made to pay a heavy price to fight a war for the Americans only to welcome a big power to rule over them. The South China Sea is a war for sphere of influence between China and the US, nothing to do with freedom of navigation. China is just developing their little islands but the Americans are here to control and to rule the region.

The Americans should stop insulting the intelligence of Asean leaders to think they can con them into a fight with China.

Malaysia’s price for sleeping with the devil

The alert warning on terrorist attacks by UK and Australia is only a small piece in the Empire’s jigsaw puzzle to bring down the Najib govt. The attack on his 1MDB saga continues with the Wall Street Journal reporting that ‘a Saudi official saying that the kingdom’s Finance and Foreign Ministries had no knowledge of the RM2.6 billion donation and that such a transfer into the personal book account of a foreign leader would be unprecedented.’ This is as good as saying Najib was lying. Sorry Najib, the Americans are going to do a regime change and you are the main target.

This is the price Najib is paying for sleeping with the devil and not wanting to do the works of the devil. If Najib had been obedient, all these funny reports in the western media would not surfaced. Who else want to sleep with the devil and think of having wet dreams?

And a commentator has posted this in my blog,

Anonymous said...

Goldman Banker Behind Malaysia Slush Fund Leaves Bank

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-24/goldman-banker-behind-malaysia-slush-fund-leaves-bank
.........................
Leissner was the powerful Goldman banker responsible for financing Malaysian PM Najib Razak’s giant slush fund, known as 1MDB.

Amid the ongoing international probes into 1MDB Leissner mysteriously took a leave of absence from Goldman, leaving Singapore for Los Angeles in January.
At the time, Goldman said he was still an employee.

Does the absence of this Goldman banker got anything to do with Najib’s trouble? When are Asians going to learn to be independent and stay away from their former colonial masters and the Empire unless they want to be their lap dogs. Doggie, fetch.

Which country in Asean would be the next target of the Empire? Definitely not Singapore, good boy. Another terrorist alert has been issued by the Australians on Indonesia. It is another way of telling the Australians to avoid Indonesia, no tourist dollars for Indonesia. And the earlier warning about Malaysia is being taken up by the other members of the Empire, New Zealand, Canada as well are telling their people to skip Malaysia. Again no tourist dollars.

Who else are behind the Operational Review Panel telling the anti graft agency to continue with the 1MDB probe? Any foreign fingers pulling the strings?

DBS profit up, share price down

DBS announcing another unbelieveable achievement for the 4^th quarter results. At the rate it is making profit, in no time DBS would be the biggest bank in the world and the most profitable one.  4^th quarter profit up 20%, to $1b in 3 mths. Who is saying banks cannot make big profits like the casinos? And revenue hit $10b or $10.79b in a quarter, extrapolate to one year it would be more than $40b! Earning per share also up from $1.32 to $1.57.

With this kind of scintillating performance, the management must be handsomely rewarded by the millions and well deserving. But please put in the claw back clause for safety reasons, just in case like Sembawang and Keppel. But touch wood it would not happen to DBS. DBS can expect to grow and grow and profit to go up and up like the salaries of super talents.

Now the bad news. Share price of DBS bank was down 18% for the year and this was based on yesterday’s price. Today(24 Feb) its price fell by another 26c.  What is happening, with such good results and no bad news, the share price of DBS is falling like a rock! How to explain this?

Didn’t the investors and fund managers believe in the good numbers and start to rush in to buy up more DBS shares for keeps? With 30c of dividend, it is as good as getting 30c discount. The fund managers and investors are not saying they don’t believe in the results right? And it cannot be a sell on news because the share price has been falling and not rising before the announcement. What is going on, what is happening?

DBS is not like those western banks that reported billions and billions of profits only to reveal a big black hole during the banking crisis and begged the US govt for handouts or go bust. The MAS has a very tight control and would not allow local banks to have their accounts cooked like those western banks, creating billions of profits when the truth is losing billions instead. MAS has a very high standard of control and governance and the scintillating results of DBS or any local banks are real. Don’t worry, we are in good hands.

One possible reason, the computers are doing all the damages. Computer trading is never about fundamentals. It is pure trading and gambling. The computers are programmed to trade against the investors. When investors rush in to buy, the computers will be computing when to sell and how much to sell to make profit against the investors. This could be the case. The investors and funds are rushing in to buy only to be sold down by the computers and the victims are the investors and fund managers having faith in the good results, and  the share price of DBS.

The big winners, the computer traders. And if you look at the volume of trades done, more than 10m shares in half a day, or more than $130m of trades done. This could not be the work of small investors or fund managers trading. It is the sign of computers trading and doing the damage.

DBS, Temasek and GIC and big funds are paying a heavy price to the computer traders that would show them the middle fingers as far as fundamentals are concerned. DBS is doing very well, very good company, top bank in Singapore, Batam and Bintan, oops I mean in the Asia and the world. Why is the price falling like a coconut?

Thank you, computer trading. You are a darling, very good for the market and for long term investors buying on fundamentals.